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Ever since its inauguration, the Internet has become the essential marketing tool for businesses.

However, in this day and age, it's not enough to simply maintain an online presence. In order to stay competitive, you have to keep your eye on each new trend and technology, and adapt your business along with them.

It can be overwhelming — to say the least.

You might be asking: "With the more than 130 trillion webpages Google is aware of, how do I make mine stand out?

Because you don't just want to accessible online, you want to target your audience, boost traffic, and convert potential clients into customers.

You want to automate your business. You want to stand out.

Thankfully, there is one marketing technique that accomplishes each and every one of these goals: SEO.

Once you master it with the help of a Las Vegas SEO expert, you can sit back, amass countless clicks, and grow your business in a myriad of ways.

What is SEO?

SEO — which stands for Search Engine Optimization — is the practice of increasing both the quantity and quality of traffic to your websites through organic search engine results (or SERPS).

The premise of SEO is this:

Most Internet users begin their queries in one place: a search engine. They type in a series of keywords, and press enter. Then, they'll be presented with a list of webpages that match their search.

To make that list, search engines "crawl" through websites, using a handful of algorithms to index and rank pages as they go. SEO involves utilizing various tips and tricks to improve your rank in the results.

For Google, which accounts for more than two-thirds of all global desktop search traffic, 91.5% of traffic share is generated by the sites listed on the first page of results.

Suffice to say, it matters where your websites rank on SERPS.

A Las Vegas SEO consultant will provide everything you need to snag a more desirable spot and start automating your business.

How SEO Can Automate Your Business

1. Promotes Trust and Authority

When users find your websites listed on the first page of major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, they are more likely to trust your brand.

Just think about it: Are you more willing to trust a business that is the #1 organic search result on Google, or one that is on the 10th page? The answer is clear.

Getting vetted by a major search engine gives your customers the assurance they're looking for during their search.

Building this kind of brand awareness with SEO tactics ultimately gives you more authority in your domain.

2. Eliminates the Need for Paid Advertising

One of the benefits of SEO is that it does the advertising for you.

Pay-Per-Click — or PPC — is a marketing technique that requires a business to spend money on advertisements in order to get its content in front of an audience.

Using SEO, on the other hand, achieves the same end result organically, without spending a dime on ads.

Moreover, recent search statistics show that 70-80% of all searches ignore paid ads anyways and scroll on down to the organic results.

SEO is not only the cheaper alternative, but also the more effective one.

3. Reaches Users at Various Stages of a Buyer Life Cycle

You can't force customers to buy what you're selling. However, understanding the buying cycle that every customer goes through when purchasing an item can help guide your marketing strategies.

Although there are different versions depending on the market, the buying cycle generally goes like this:

1. Awareness of Needs
2. Consideration of Alternatives
3. Alleviation of Risk
4. Decision/Purchase
5. Achievement of Results

By utilizing different keywords, a business can target customers at various stages in this process. The goal is to push them on to the next stage, finally culminating in a purchase.

4. Brings in Customers From Your Vicinity

Local SEO is a marketing technique that targets users from your area. As opposed to general SEO that brings in traffic based on relevance alone, this tactic involves distance and relevance.

Google has a separate local algorithm for local searches, and if you understand how it works, your business can target the best kind of customers: the ones just down the street.

Some of the components include:

• Local Backlinks
• Localized Content
• Reviews on Yelp, Facebook, and more
• Consistent NAP
• Google My Business

Local SEO is worth investing your time into as 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. When users type in your product and your area, you want your business to be the premier result.

Because they know your area and its consumers like the back of their hand, a Las Vegas SEO Consultant is who to turn to if you want to take advantage of all local SEO strategies.

4. Boosts Lead Generation

While SEO focuses on driving online traffic, lead generation focuses on increasing your business's amount of clients.

The two are connected because SEO drives leads by appealing to a target audience in specific ways, including keywords.

Lead generation is the biggest challenge for 63% of companies, and SEO just might be the answer they're looking for.

Once you identify the kind of leads you want, you can choose keywords that attract that particular kind of customer.

For example, if your target audience is eco-conscious millennial moms, you can choose to add the keyword "green" to the other keywords describing your product.

Another SEO tactic for lead generation is content syndication, which essentially means partnering with other blogs to get your content posted on their site.

The Bottom Line

If you choose only one marketing tool to better your business's online presence, it should be SEO.

Businesses of every size can use SEO tactics to build their brand.

SEO can promote trust, cut costs, reach buyers, get your name recognized locally, and target leads. What more could you ask for?

Get in touch with a Las Vegas SEO consultant today and begin reaping the many benefits of SEO.